welcome to "world news." tonight doubling down. under fire by critics calling them extreme, even nutty, the national rifle association hitting the air waves with a tough message. what happened at gun shows across america today? holiday havoc, two days until christmas and two new storms bearing down, as tens of millions of americans scramble for their gifts, we look inside the mind of the last-minute shopper. irresistible, the dental assist in iowa fired because her boss says she was too attractive. the shock over how the state's highest court has ruled on this case. and extreme gift,ing, what america's 1%ers may find under their trees this christmas.

good evening. we may be two days away from christmas, but many americans are focused not on yuletide enjoy, instead on guns. who has them, who's trying to get them and how they should be controlled. tonight the nra and its supporters are doubling down. here hearing reports of a rush at gun shows across america today, people buying assault weapons before a possible ban. as nra executives fanned out across the air waves with a message of defiance. abc's david kerley is on the story. >> reporter: the nra today stuck byes its guns, that every american school should have an armed guard. >> if it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy. >> the nra has blood on its

hands! >> reporter: two dayings ago. >> amid protesters and refusing to takey q. questions, the head of the nra unveiled this plan. today wayne la pierre defends himself. >> when that horrible monster tried to shoot his way into that school, if a good guy with a gun was there, he might have been able to stop them. >> reporter: the massacre as sandy hook has led some supporters to call for guns in schools. the nra supporters blame the media, and the lack of mental health care are having none of it. >> you're saying they shouldn't be part of this at all? >> congress will debate, but i think it's not part of the ultimate solution on this. >> reporter: at least one school district in new jersey will place armed guards in schools to the disapproval of the governor. >> you don't want to make this an armed camp for kids. i don't think that's a positive example for children. >> reporter: a poll shows a

majority of americans continue to favor more restrictions on gun ownership. that may be the reason other americans are flocking to gun stores. shelves empty in this north carolina store. >> we've never seen anything like this, we have the christmas business, the hunting season business, and now the political business. >> pierre was pressed time and time again, he refused to answer or changed the subject. he said the gun is the tool. the problem is the criminal. >> let me ask you about another washington story. we're nine days away from going over the fiscal cliff. any progress to speak of today? >> there are a number of members of congress today asking that the president and the speaker try one more time. both republicans and democrats and the senate are saying the chances of that big debt reducing deal really are lost. it's now a small deal, they expect it out of the senate probably later this week. >> david kerley reporting from washington tonight. thank you.

president obama attended the burial today of daniel inouhe. it was a 19-gun salute when the senator's coffin arrived at the national memorial cemetery of the pacific. he was the first japanese american elected to both houses of congress, the second longest serving senator in american history. he was 88 years old. >> the other big story we're following tonight, with a third of all americans traveling for the holidays, meteorologists are worried about the nightmare after christmas. two new storms are moving in. we'll get the forecast in i minute, but first the mess the weather is already creating. >> reporter: it's the christmas trip turned nightmare for drivers on the east and west coast. in northern california with more snow expected to blanket the sierra mountains tonight, cars are having trouble just staying on the road. >> the roads are bad. there's a lot of spinouts further east.

there's going to be chain control for the next two days at least going into christmas. >> reporter: with warmer temperatures in the bay area, the pounding rain has been the big hazard. near san jose, this bad accident happened after one driver going too fast, skidded across five lanes, crashing into the other. believe it or not, police say no one was hurt. >> people are still driving fast. you just got to watch out for them and slow down a little bit and anticipate the worst of what other people may do when they hit puddles or something. >>eporter: across the country, prows are working overtime dealing with two consecutive days of snow this weekend, leaving this car stuck with no place to go. >> the weather was bad. the winds were blowing the cars around. you could see the semis were swerving. >> reporter: it's the city's first snowstorm of the season. many are bracing for more to come. john schriffen, abc news, new york. >> with us tonight amy free our

meteorologist from our affiliate here. you have three things you're looking at. >> the first stoorm is in the northeast, it will give folks a white christmas. as it moves through washington, light snow, mainly the snow stays in central pennsylvania and central new york, one to three inches possible there. long the i-95 corridor, mainly a little dusting. >> then severe weather in the south? >> yes, the warm side could produce thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes. before it leaves oklahoma city, could produce a white christmas. >> the third storm is a real biggie. >> it's a monster. producing one to four inches for flooding rain for parts of california. into the sierras, feet of snow. as it pushes east, a lot of snow. anyone traveling through the rockies. places like denver, several minchs of snow.

>> and it gets to the northeast. >> by the middle of the week that, will have a ripple effect on people trying to get home. >> amy, thank you very much. appreciate it. a more pressing concern for many of us tonight, last-minute shopping. look at this. days ago, one in seven americans hadn't even started shopping. a staggering 17 million people will still be scram fwring per gifts tomorrow. many of them will go for lottery tickets and candy, but procraftination does have an upside. here's nick watt. >> reporter: we've entered the final, hectic 30 hours of gift buying. you look quite stressed? >> i have anxiety right now. i'm not going to lie. >> reporter: there are crumbs of comfort. the late gift just might be the best gift. fraugality evaporates you throw money at the pressing problem and spend more. under problem, you make a gut

instirchth decision. >> let's say you want to buy a sweater for your wife, if you think about it too much, you might outthink yourself and may not make a good choice. >> do you feel you perform best under pressure? >> absolutely. >> reporter: do you always do it last minute? >> absolutely, yes. that's the only way to do it. you have to make a good decision. >> reporter: ron claiborne started his shopping this morning. >> i could never get focused to the 23rd, 24th, sometimes not until the 25th. >> reporter: see, he's making great choices. stores stay open for the last-minute larryr larry. target until 10:00 p.m. walgreen's is open christmas day. >> reporter: it'll be okay. another advantage of last minute, the sales have already begun. the late bird can catch the best worm. nick watt, abc news, los angeles. >> thank you, nick.

looks like two former presidents from opposite sides of this planet will be spending this christmas in the hospital. president george h.w. bush is still recovering from bronkitis. doctors in south africa say former president nelson mandela in the hospital now for two weeks is improving. he's 94 and recovering from a lung infection and gall stone surgery. also queen elizabeth is under the weather tonight, trying to get over a nasty cold before christmas. the 86-year-old had to skip church today, something that rarely happens. buckingham palace says she'll be back in church for services on christmas day. in newtown, connecticut on this sunday, church leaders were given standing ovations at the st. rose of lima church. he was thanked for helping so many people through the horror of the sandy hook elementary school shootings opinion tonight we're noticing something very

positive across the country in response to this story. >> reporter: an overwhelming river of giving now flows freely through the newtown post office. some send prayers, others much needed support. >> i think i saw brazil, australia, anybody in newtown needs a hug. amazing. >> reporter: in the town hall, a mountain of donated toys is piling up just in time for christmas. even hurricane sandy victims are giving hundreds of teddy bears. >> reporter: new town wants others to pay it forward now in honor of the victims. from a secret santa in pennsylvania to new jersey, where kristin went shopping for ingredients, only to find a target gift card hidden in her cart asking her to pay it toward in honor of sandy hook shooting victim catherine hubbard. it made me stop.

i was frozen. it made me think about that little girl. >> inspired, she paid it forward by giving the card to her bank teller after making a deposit. how has this one act of kindness changed you? >> it really made me think of the bigger picture and family and friends and, you know, really extending the kindness to strangers as well. >> reporter: her hope, those moments of terror inspire you to join in next, for 365 days a year. mark greenblatt, abc news, new york. >> seeing the bigger picture. speaking of acts of kindness, we have the story toned of an elaborately engineered military surprise nfling a military mom, her sailor son and a christmas wish. >> i'm so excited. my mom's like my best friend. i can't wait to see her. >> jeremy vogel, i a sailor from oregon missed christmas with his

mom last year. this year she thinks he's stuck prepping to return to afghanistan next month. >> she thinks i'm in the feel right now. >> reporter: the plan, to trick sue into showing up at this local restaurant run by a friend of the family. >> suh, i have them ready for you upon. >> reporter: when sue shows up, our local affiliate pretends she's doing a story about holiday desserts, like cinnamon rolls. sue buys it and starts talking about her son. >> he's getting ready to go to afghanistan. >> is he coming home? >> not this year. >> then enter jeremy. >> merry christmas. >> hi, jeremy! you made it home! this is my best present yet. >> reporter: sue's husband, who

arranged this whole thing, said it almost fell through a couple times. in the end, though, an unqualified success. >> awesome. >> i love you. >> i love you too. >> our thanks to our affiliate for that story. sue's husband tells the station the reason he did this, she was in such a foul mood when she heard jeremy wasn't coming home, he had to do something. coming up on "world news," fired for being too attractive. she fought back thinking she had a very strong case. wait until you hear, though, what the all male iowa supreme court had to say. questions?

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bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. >> now to the story of a dental assistant in iowa whose boss fired her because she was too attractive. her only crime was looking too good. and the state's highest court has now sided with the boss. here's abc's tanya rivera. >> reporter: melissa nelson spent ten happy years working as a dental assistant, until she was fired because her boss said she was too tempting and a threat to his marriage. on friday, the all-male, iowa supreme court unanimously agreed -- dentist james knight was justified when he fired an employee he saw as an

irresistible attraction. >> i'm devastated. i really am. there's not an appeal. the state is as far as we can go. >> reporter: the decision is sparking much controversy, some employment attorneys are calling it a dangerous throwback. >> i wouldn't have been surprised if it was a decision written in 1970 by the characters of "mad men." >> reporter: the 32-year-old married mother of two says she saw her employer as a father figure and was shocked when dr. knight admits, even though she was great at her job, he couldn't be trusted around her. >> you know, after working so many years side by side, i didn't have any idea that that would have crossed his mind. >> reporter: according to court documents, knight referenced nelson's infrequent sex life, saying that's like having a lamborghini in the garage and never driving it. and when the doctor's wife discovered him sending text

messages to his assistant, it was his wife who demanded she be fired. nelson sued for gender discrimination. >> i think the women in iowa sl probably start going to work in burqas for fear that their boss might find them sexually attractive and terminate them. >> reporter: dr. knight's lawyer gave abc news this statement -- "she was not terminated because of her gender, but to preserve the best interests of his marriage." >> it's sending a message that men can do whatever they want in the workforce. >> nelson's lawyer tells me they both received a huge outpouring of support with some even offering to pay legal costs. but after three long years of fighting, there can be no more appeals, since nelson alleged a violation of state law, dan, and not federal. >> is it bears repeating, all the judges, male. >> a unanimous decision. coming up next, a sharp left

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entirely online form at. they tweeted out this picture today. santa claus caught in a competition. norad has been tracking santa's journey from the north pole every christmas eve since 1955. this year, google is horning in. google maps will be tracking st. nick as will an app on the android devices. no word on which technology santa himself will be using. now to our video and we picked it because it's certainly cute. this is a baby panda getting a check-up at the san diego zoo. i could watch this for hours. but we only have a few seconds. enjoy it while it lasts. the panta's name means little gift in mandarin. that green ball right there is his favorite toy. his handlers use it to test the animal's coordination. we want to hear from you. hit me on twitter at dan b harris. what to buy for the person who

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holidays, but celebrities, titans of industry and lottery winners, for all those people, there's a special holiday catalog that includes items that blew our minds. check it out. it is called simply enough the christmas book, an annual catalog put out by the high end retailer neiman marcus. inside you can find fantasy gifts like a $50,000 personal blimp, his and hers robots, and even a flying car at the bargain price of $3.5. >> it's just fun to go through and say, i'd love to have this and that. ♪ it's a hard knock life for us ♪ ♪ it's a hard knock life for us ♪ >> this year, can buy a walk-on role in the broadway hit annie, a $350,000 sport car, orthopedic a real-life jet pack. has anybody guyed doing this? >> absolutely not.

>> it can take you 30 feet in the air at 30 miles an hour. this guy can do twists, turn, barrel rolls and dive bombs. >> when i tried it, however, i inched along about five feet above the water. >> very nice, perfect. now center out. >>ky find an atm and withdraw $100,000? >> for others on your shopping list, there's a 100 now. >> translator: h-- $100,000 hen house. here they can cluck around with a living room and boudoir all modelleds on the palace of versailles. is something like this a bit wasted on chickens? the chandelier, the artwork, is there any evidence they'll lay better eggs? >> no, but you as the farmer will be inspired. >> reporter: actually, they do lay colored eggs.

a tried one. i would definitely pay $100,000 for that egg. >> actually, probably not and nobody's actually purchased one of those fancy chicken coops yet, but they do tell us they have had two inquiries from interested parties. that's going to do it for us at abc "world news." be sure to watch gma first thing in the morning and i will be right back here tomorrow night. for all of us here at abc news, thank you for watching and goodnight.